Mile-meter.



No. 825,432i y PATENTBD JULY 1o, 1906. H. TYLER. MILBMETBR.

APPLICATION FLED JUNE 19. 1905.

Eim

vaxis of rotation of an suc boxes 1n which the a e ends HIRAM TYLER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MILE-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ju1y1o, 190e.

pplioationdled June 19. 1905. Serial Nq. 265,885.

To all whom, it may concern,.- 1

Be it known that I, HIRAM TYLER, a citi- ,zen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have inventeda certain new and useful Mile-Meter; and I do declare theV following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it apper-A -tains to make and use the same, reference be` ing had to the accompanying drawin s, and to the characters of reference marke thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to appliances for -measuring distances.4

An object of the invention is to provide an appliance for registerin the number of miles covered or traveled y railwaycoaches, sleeping-cars, freight-cars, electric, cable, or other cars, also locomotive or other Wheeled vehicles wherein the axle revolves with the wheels.

Heretofore, sofar as I am aware, there has een' no means for measuring and recording the distances traveled by such vehicles, for the reason that c clometers and like appliances heretofore own for measuring istances by registering or indicating the rotations of a wheel have been inapplicable to vehicles of the kind referred to, in which the carrying-wheels are fixed to and turn with the axles, and the journal-boxes are so constructed and arrangedas to make it impractical or impossible to mount any distancemeasuring device in position to be actuated by the rotation of the wheel-that is to say, the bodies andframes of such vehicles are vmounted on springs to move up and down relative to the carrying-wheels, and the only parts which are stationa relative to the a wheel are the are journaledand it'is very difficult, if not wholly impracticable, to so mount any known travel-registering appliance as to serve the purpose of determinin the distance traveled by such vehicles. nother difficulty arises from the fact that vehicles of the class referred to travel first in one and then in the other direction, forward and back. l 'An object of this invention is to ,provide a convenient appliance for determining the number of rotations a shaft or axle makes and by this means to measure the distance a wheel of determined circumference xed.

thereto may travel.

` invention.

1 accomplish the objects aimed at ,by providmg a meter suspended on the rotatingl shaft, such as the axle of a car or othervehicle, the same be' g constructed and arranged to be actuated thereby. As a plied to railway-cars this meter is suspended looselyon the axle, and gravitation keeps the meter normally ina practically upright position.

Many mechanical means may be employed instea of those hereinafter described for carrying outl this invention, and I do not limit the construction to that shown. I deem it advisable to iprovide the vehicle-axle With a projecting mounting, such as a separate sleeve of brass or some other suitable substance fixed4 on the axle and by which the case of the meter may be appropriately held antifrictionally. The case or meter-frame may be of cast-iron or any other suitable ma terial and of any desired form, and any suitable means may be provided for holding it in place on the axle;

The invention comprises the combination with an axle'or shaft, of a meter journaled thereon and a trip or'other means o erated by the axle to actuate the meter mecl anism. Preferably on the the meter is simply hun slaff and actuated by means carried by the s a The invention also includes an appliance comprising counter mechanism and reverselyarranged evices for actuating the same progressively in one and the same direction, whereby at times one of the devices is operated in one direction to drive mechanism forward and at other times the other device is operated in a direction reverse to that in which the first had been operated and in turn drives the counter mechanism forward. By combining such appliance'with a rotatable body having means for acutating first one and then the other of said actuating devices as Said body is rotated 'in first one and then in the other direction the full number'of rotations of said body in both directions at any time ma be determined.

the counter IOO i For convenience t e meter shown in the f accompanying drawings is 'made to read in miles and fractions of miles. By'this means itis made possible to determine age traveled by a railway or tramwaycar between any two points of observation ur notation.

In the accom an in drawin Fi e 1 is a front elevatiolri ofy a device engibodygihlg this Fig. 2 is aI side elevation thereof.

the full mile- Fig. 1.

vgravity-actuated reversing mechanism. Fig. 6 is a detail of Fig. 3 is a front elevation with the cover removed on the vertical dotted line ma :123, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation with the cover removed'on the vertical dotted line m4 Q34, Fig. 5 is a detail of one unit of the the star drive-wheel. Fig. '7 is a detail of one unit' of the transfer-gearing of the counter mechanism. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the same. Proceeding to a detailed description of my invention, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts, Figs. 3 and 4 are referred'to, in which 1 designates a roF tatable shaft, as the axle of a car er other vehicle. 2 is a split collar fixed on the shaft or axle 1 and having on either end flanges 3, on which is suspended the case 4, which is hinged at 5 to permit of its encircling and iii C sleeve 2 and which actuate the counter mechand shaft 18.

v of' their gears 1414 which is the fixed to sh anism through starwheels 9 9', reverse mechanism 10 11 12, shaft 13, gears 14 15 '1G-16',

Star-wheels 9 for actuating the'counting mechanism are loosely mounted on shaft`1'3.- In the reverse mechanism the casing 1G thereof is fixed to star-wheel 9 by rivets 92. gravitypawls 11- are loosely pivoted within the reverse-mechanism casing 10 on studs 17. Cam-wheels 12 and 12 areiixed on the'sides respectively. Gear 14 is fixed on shaft 13, while gear 14 is loose on said shaft Gears 16 16 are fixed on shaft 18, and gear 16 actuates counter-wheel 20, first wheel .ot the train and'is aft 13. The other countenwheels 419 19 are' all kloosely mounted on shaft 18.

`ldlergear 15 is interposed between gears. 14

. ample, if Yleft lugs and at one endof the' counter mechanism 'ge to give the required movement.

the axle sl is rotated from rightto For ex- 8 will actsiniultaneously on starwheel gears 9 9.

- "The gravity-mechanism pawl's .11' and 1' 1 at the opposite sides of the counter mechanism constitute a pair alternately operating of inversely-arranged devices, so that the i right to left movement of axle 1 Willonly 4transmit movement through cam 12 as pawls 1-1 are out of engagement with their cam 12. Therefore the star-wheel 9 on the left side in Fig. Bis connected with the gear 16 through right, then the pawls v11 the cam 12, its gear 14', idler 15, gear 16, and shaft 18. If the axle 1 is rotated from left to are in engagement with cam 12 and movement is transmitted through cam 1 2', gears 11 15, and 16, through the shaft .13 to counter-wheel 20, fixed thereon. By the construction shown proportioned as to give The assess the same general direction is Vimparted toi counter-wheel 2O at either movement of the axle, pawls 11 11and cam-wheels 12 12 constituting pawl-andratchet devices to obtain this result. All the gears and counter mechanism and their journal-boxes are desirahly carriedV in a frame 21, and carried by the meter case or frame 4.

Counter-wheels 19 and 20 known pattern, aniith'e transfer from one which is fastened in are of a well? number of a low denomination to one of a higher is made in the usual way by the mutilated pinions 22 of the several counter units,

which pinions are mounted loosely on the auxiliary shaft 23. The gears ,14 16, are so tion on the counter-wheels for each mile or the correct registrel fraction thereof traveled whether the carry y nig-wheel (not shown) is thirty-threeench or forty-inch wheel or otherwise. it is a parent that for cach size of car-wheels t e gears 14 16 must be made of an appropriate size.

permits a free movement and allows the counter mechanism to hang below the shaft 1 by gravitation. An extra amount of metal or other weight, as at W, can be added to the casing to help it retain its proper position.l Casing 4 has a sight-opening 25 on its under side through which the reading of the'counter-wheels may he had. When this is tol be closed, a slide 26 is placed in the grooves 27 and locked with any suitable lool; at 23.V It is advisable to have a projection 29 on the end of the slide 26 to prevent it 'from being misplaced or lost. This may be a riveted pin, as shown.

It is apparent from the above description that when this meter is suspended from the axle of a passenger or freight car and the car p'ut in motion forward or backward the counting mechanism will register the travel of the vehicle just as though it were all in one neral direction. The meter illustrated in these drawings is proportioned for a car having Wheels thirty-three inches indianieterv and is constructed to record ninety-nine thousand'nine hundred and ninety-nine and ninety-nine hundredths miles. The trip-actuating devices carried by the axle of the carwheel. are specially adapted for use in. combination with a counter mechanism adapted to register the`rotation of a car-wheel axle, or the reason that it is dificult and inconvenient to attach a large eccentric to a carwheel axle or to provide a car-wheel axle with cogs or similar cumbersomeA devices on account of the vehicles as railway-cars. lt is to be understood, however, that the capacityv may 'be increased ractically without limit by the addition otP counter units 19 and 22, which are well known in the art and are loosely joui'- iialed on the counter and auxiliary shafts 18 ACasing 4, having receptacles* or boxes24, i

and 423, respectively. The proportions and arran ements of counter mechanism herein l state and'shown are designed to cause counter-Wheels-20 and 19 to indicate hundredths and tenths of a mile, respectively, while the other counter-wheels 19 successively indicate units, tens, &c., in the usual Way.

30 designatesmeans in the form of screws for securing the lapped edges 31 32 of the case 4 to ether, thus-holding the meter in placeont e flan ed sleeve.l

33 designates ubricating-chambers in the boxes 24 of the case 4. 'These arepreferably filled with gra bite or some othersuitable hard or plastic ubricant.

' The trip-actuated operatingmeans, which includes gears 14 14,.cam-whe'els 12 12 and star-Wheels 9 9 actuated by trips'S, consti-l tute means for rotating the umts-Wheelin the same direction during each com lete rotation of the car-axle Whichever, irection the car moves, so that practically all the movement is recorded, no complete rotation of the car-wheel being unrecorded when the car begins to move in a reverse direction, as is the case with some counting devices' other- Wise constructed. This is an important feature Where it is desired to secure an accurate record, especially of theg'distance the car travels when moved back and `forth short distances in switching.

What I claim isl y 1. The combination with an axle, of a split sleeve fastened theretoand provided with trips atdiiierent points :along the length thereof, a case journaled on said sleeve, a shaft in said case extending parallel with the axle, counter-Wheels on saidshaft, and gearing near each end of said shaft and operatively connected with s'aid counter-Wheels.

2. The combination, with a railway-car axle, of a splitl flan ed sleeve rovided with trips along the lengt thereof xed thereto,a case or frame hung on the sleeve, counter mechanism Aand reversely-arranged alternately-operating devices constructed and arranged to' register progressively the rota,-l tions of said railWay-axledn either directiorLj `3.- T he combination with arotatahle body, of two star-Wheels ada ted to be actuated by -the rotation of the ody,` at transmitting mechanism for transmittingn motion from one of said star-wheels in one direction only,

a gear-wheel to transmit motion so transmitted, a gear-Wheel driven thereby, counter mechanism driven by saidy gear-wheel', and reversing mechanism and gears connected to transmit motion from Ithe other star-wheel to said gear forrlriving the counter-Wheels I the same direction;

4. The combination of an axle having trips 8 thereon,l star-Wheels 9 and 9 ar- 10, the pavvls 11 pivoted thereto, ca-m 12 actuated in one direction by the pawls, gear 14 fastened to the cam 12, gear 16 driven by ear 14, counter mechanism 20, 19 and 19' riven by gear 16', shaft 18 fixed to gear 16', gear 16 iixed on shaft 18, idler 15 for transmitting motionto gear 16, transmitting gear 14, cam wheel 12 fastened to transmitting gear-Wheel 14', pawls ism carried by the case of'frame, and mech" anism for transmitting motion. 6. In combination, a pair of actuating- Wheels for actuating, counting mechanism,

means for moving said wheels in reverse directions to actuatesaidmechanism, counter- Wheels, two setsof gearing, one for. each of the actuating-Wheelswto transmit motion to said counter-wheels, and a pawl-and-ratchet device for each of sald actuatmg-wheels.

7 In combination, a pair of actuatinv Wheels, means carried by a rotary bo y Iadapted to move both of said Wheels Whichever direction said body is rotated, a camvand-ratchet device for each yof said wheels,

earing for each of said wheels, the gearing or one of said Wheels being provided with an idler, and counter-Wheels moved l by said gearing. y

8. In combination, a .pair ofactuating- Wheels, means carried by a rotaryv body adapted to move both of'sa'id Wheels Whichever direction said body is rotated, a .camand-ratchet device' for each of said wheels, and gearing for each of 'said Wheels, and counter-Wheels moved by said gearing. l 9. The combination With an axle, of a s lit iianged sleeve fastened thereto and provi ed Withtri s located at different longitudinal points a ong the length of said sleeve, 'a case ]ourn'aled `on said sleeve, and counter mechanism carried by said case .and adapted to be actuated by saiditrips.' l j 10. The combination, .with a rotary bpdy, of a pair of trips spaced apart axially thereof, counter mechanism, and a pair of reverselyarranged devices adapted to communicate movement from said body to said counter mechanism, one, of said devices moving the counter mechanism when said body rotates in one direction, and the other device moving said mechanismwhen the body rotates in the reverse direction.

11. In combination, an axle, means for mounting trips thereon at diiierent points along the length thereof, a case hung on said axle, a shaft in said case extending parallel IOO IIO

@s senese.

with the axle, counter-Wheels on said shaft, by said case and adapted to be actuated by :e and gearmg near each end of said shaft and said trips. oratvely connected with said counter- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set W eels. Y my hand, at Los Angeles, California, this 1st 12. The combination With an axle, of a day'of June, 1905.

sleeve fastened thereto and lProvided with IFIIRAM TYLER. trips located at dHerent longltudnal' onts In presence ofalong the length thereof, a case journa ed on J AMES R. TOWNSEND, said sleeve, and counter mechanism carried JULIA ToWNsEND. 

